Legionnaire's disease explained as British tourist left in a coma
The potentially lethal condition begins with flu-like symptoms, but there are four signs that could indicate you need immediate hospital attention
A holidaymaker, Donna Jobling, has contracted Legionnaires' disease during an all-inclusive holiday in Crete. According to the Independent, she has been placed in an induced coma in Crete.
As per the NHS, Legionnaires' disease is a rare but potentially deadly lung infection if not treated promptly. It's transmitted by inhaling water droplets containing Legionella bacteria.
Sources can include air conditioning units, hot tubs, humidifiers, showers and taps. The bacteria must be inhaled to cause an infection; typically, you won't fall ill from activities such as drinking water or swimming in lakes contaminated with the bacteria.
Symptoms of Legionnaires' disease include:
Coughing
Shortness of breath
Chest pain or discomfort, especially when breathing or coughing
A high temperature
Flu-like symptoms
These initial symptoms usually appear between two and 10 days after exposure to the bacteria. However, some other symptoms of the disease necessitate immediate medical attention.
The NHS advises people to call 111 or arrange an urgent GP appointment if they experience any of the following:
A cough lasting three weeks or more
Coughing up blood
Chest pain that comes and goes, or occurs when breathing or coughing
Feeling short of breath
When you talk to a healthcare professional, inform them about any places you've visited in the past 10 days that could have exposed you to Legionnaires' disease, such as hotels, spas, or hospitals. People over the age of 50, smokers, or those with compromised immune systems may be at an increased risk of contracting the disease.
If you're diagnosed with Legionnaires' disease, hospitalisation may be necessary. In this case, doctors might administer antibiotics intravenously, provide oxygen masks, tubes or even machines to assist your breathing.
The disease can prove fatal if not treated promptly, as it can lead to complications like pneumonia and respiratory failure. In 2023, there were 604 reported cases of Legionnaires' disease and 19 deaths in England and Wales.
In all, 212 of these cases were associated with travel abroad. Currently, Donna is in an induced coma in Crete, according to a GoFundMe page set up by her niece, Claire.
Donna's husband, Sid, remains by her side in Greece, while Claire and the rest of the family are seeking financial assistance to cover the costs of additional family members travelling to support the couple during this difficult period.
According to the BBC, the source of the disease has not yet been identified. However, easyJet Holidays, the company through which the couple booked their holiday, has relocated customers from the hotel as a precautionary measure. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control has also issued an emergency alert for the island following the diagnosis.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Telegraph
33 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Doctors demand taxpayer-funded iPhones
The UK's trade union for doctors wants taxpayer-funded smartphones so they can carry out NHS and university work. The British Medical Association (BMA) has made lobbying for an iPhone or Android phone for all medical staff a policy of the union. Doctors said they were using WhatsApp groups on their personal phones to share private patient information and discuss medical treatment. Medics at the BMA annual conference in Liverpool overwhelmingly passed a policy to 'demand centrally funded mobile phones be made available to all medical staff for all their NHS work and/or university work'. The motion, put forward by the South West Regional Council, which represents the area's public sector bodies, argued that doctors 'should not have to use personal mobile phones for work' on the grounds of privacy and wellbeing. Work-life balance It passed with 94 per cent of participants voting in favour. The NHS employs some 1.7 million people across the UK, including around 200,000 doctors and more than half a million other clinical staff. Doctors argued that it would improve work-life balance and reduce the risk of abuse or harassment if they had work phones, instead of using their own. The result of a strike ballot from resident doctors – formerly called junior doctors – on whether there should be strikes over pay is due in the next two weeks. Consultants are also set to vote on whether they should follow suit. The doctor proposing the motion said personal numbers 'are added to group chats, contact lists and office forms'. 'Doctors are expected to be constantly available. Messages late at night, last-minute rota requests, fast WhatsApp groups have become the backchannel for firefighting, stuffing crises. Organisations rely on constant access and often use guilt and coercion rather than proper workforce planning,' she said. She also claimed it was not just about 'who pays for the phones' but about using technology 'without compromising data security' and giving doctors 'the freedom to disconnect when they're not at work'. Emma Andrews, of the residents doctors' conference, said: 'On Thursday, I used six different apps on my personal phone to do my job safely and to do it well. 'Half the team wouldn't have been able to find the patient if we'd not used WhatsApp to describe where this obscure clinic room was,' she said, referring to one patient. 'I was a civil servant and I was provided with a phone [and] a laptop because I needed it to do my job. It also provided security to the departments I worked in, so that government business only happened on government devices. It's not unreasonable to expect an employer to provide the tools I need to do my job. We shouldn't be subsidising the NHS with our data, with our battery life or with our work-life balance.' Reducing 'burnout' Dr Latifa Patel, chairwoman of the BMA's representative body, said: 'Many workplaces offer devices for professional communication, and the NHS should be no different.' She said doctors often work across multiple sites and 'need to be contactable' and were increasingly relying on their own personal phones. 'Using a work device, like a mobile phone, can help to define boundaries between work and home life, and significantly reduce burnout – something we know many doctors experience, and which is undoubtedly contributing to them either reducing their hours or leaving the NHS altogether,' she said. 'We also know some doctors are impacted by inappropriate contact, such as abuse or sexual harassment, sometimes in the form of unwanted messages and communication outside of work. Removing the reliance on personal devices is an action employers can take to mitigate these risks. 'We invite the Government to work with us to see how these devices can be introduced in the NHS as part of efforts to improve doctor wellbeing.'
Telegraph
33 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Cancer treatment waiting times in Scotland are worst on record
Cancer waiting times in Scotland have risen to their worst levels on record, according to official figures that Labour said exposed 'the true cost of the SNP's mismanagement of our NHS'. Public Health Scotland (PHS) said nearly a third of Scots referred to the NHS with an urgent suspicion of cancer did not begin treatment within the target 62 days. Only 68.9 per cent of patients referred between January and March started treatment within the deadline, compared to 73.5 per cent the previous quarter. The target has not been met since the last quarter of 2012, and performance remained well below pre-pandemic levels, when more than eight out of 10 patients started treatment on time. Holyrood's opposition parties said the failure to diagnose cases quickly enough meant a 'cancer time-bomb is looming' in Scotland. The figures emerged after the Royal College of Radiologists warned that Scotland had a 25 per cent shortage of radiologists and a 19 per cent shortage of oncologists. It said the oncologists shortfall was set to rise to 31 per cent, the highest of the four home nations, by 2029. A patient's risk of death can increase by 10 per cent for every month treatment is delayed. Scotland's doctors also warned that the NHS was 'dying before our eyes' and said it was 'abundantly clear' that there was a divide between those who can afford private healthcare and those 'languishing' on NHS waiting lists. John Swinney, the First Minister, unveiled his NHS recovery blueprint in January and admitted there were crises in parts of the health service. But unions and professional bodies representing Scotland's NHS medics attacked the plan's lack of detail and questioned where the funding and staff would come from. 'A ticking timebomb' Dr Sandesh Gulhane, a GP and the Scottish Tories' shadow health secretary, said: 'These appalling statistics confirm Scotland is facing a ticking timebomb when it comes to cancer cases on the SNP's watch. 'One cancer patient waiting over two months to start cancer treatment is one too many – but now nearly a third of patients are facing these deadly waits, which is devastating for those involved and their families.' Dame Jackie Baillie, Scottish Labour's health spokeswoman, said: 'These disastrous figures lay bare the true cost of the SNP's mismanagement of our NHS. 'Cancer is Scotland's biggest killer, and swift treatment can be the difference between life and death – but under the SNP, patients are being abandoned and the founding principles of our NHS are under threat. 'A cancer time-bomb is looming. The SNP must act now to cut these dangerously long waits and deliver the urgent, life-saving care Scottish cancer patients need.' Alex Cole-Hamilton, the Scottish Liberal Democrat leader, warned that 'cancer patients cannot depend on this SNP Government'. He said: 'Waiting times have spiralled to the worst on record and the target has never been met since the SNP introduced it almost 15 years ago. Scotland now has the worst shortage of oncologists of any UK nation.' Only one of Scotland's 14 NHS boards met the 62-day target, with 95.8 per cent of patients seen on time in Lanarkshire. There were 4,373 patient referrals made under the target, up 1.5 per cent since the end of last year and an increase of 17.5 per cent since before the pandemic. A separate target for 95 per cent of patients to start treatment within 31 days of a decision to treat was also missed. Neil Gray, the SNP Health Secretary, said: 'The median wait for treatment is three days, and the median wait from urgent suspicion of cancer referral to treatment is 52 days, demonstrating the extensive work by staff across Scotland to treat people as quickly and effectively as possible. 'Cancer remains a national priority for the Scottish Government. We have directed £14.23 million of the £106 million in additional planned care funding for 2025/26 to cancer waiting times, with a focus on colorectal, urological and breast as our most challenged pathways.'
South Wales Guardian
37 minutes ago
- South Wales Guardian
Watchdog acted ‘irrationally' in registering private gender clinic, court told
Former nurse Susan Evans and a mother known as XX are taking legal action against the Care Quality Commission (CQC) over its decision to register the Gender Plus Hormone Clinic (GPHC) in Birmingham in January last year. The two are also challenging the regulator's decision to continue the clinic's registration and to allow it to prescribe cross-sex hormone treatment to 16 and 17-year-olds without conditions, made last December. The clinic, which was rated outstanding by the watchdog last year, treats people aged 16 and older, including through prescribing gender-affirming – masculinising or feminising – hormones, but, in line with the NHS, does not prescribe puberty blockers. Lawyers representing the two women told a hearing on Tuesday that the watchdog did not consider aspects that were 'obviously material' when making its decision, including the NHS's stance on hormone treatment for children aged 16 and 17 in light of the Cass Review. The watchdog is defending the claim, telling the court that it was 'abundantly clear that there was ample evidence' for its decision, while lawyers for the company which runs the clinic, Gender Plus Healthcare Limited, said the legal action was 'fatally flawed'. Opening the women's case on Tuesday, barrister Tom Cross KC said the clinic was believed to be the only hormone treatment provider to 16 and 17-year-olds in England, and that the claimants' concern was about safety, with Ms Evans previously stating she believed the registration 'creates a significant risk of a two-tier approach'. Mr Cross said: 'At arriving at the conclusion that the provider should continue to be registered without any conditions … the CQC has acted irrationally.' He added: 'It has not factored into its conclusion a number of aspects of the process on the NHS, informed by the Cass Review, which serve as important safeguards for children within the cohort and were obviously material.' The barrister said that had the CQC factored these in, it would have 'decided to exercise its power to halt the treatment' of under-18s, and that its decision was 'simply not open to them'. He claimed that 'at the very least' the court 'should require the CQC to think again about the adequacy of the safeguards'. Hormone treatment was previously provided on the NHS at the now-closed Gender Identity Development Service (Gids) run by the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, where Ms Evans previously worked. But a review published by Baroness Cass in April last year said that 'extreme caution' should be demonstrated when deciding to prescribe the treatment to 16 and 17-year-olds, and that there should be 'clear clinical rationale for providing hormones at this stage rather than waiting until an individual reaches 18'. The NHS has opened three specialist children's gender clinics and has plans for a further five covering the seven NHS regions in England by the end of 2026, but has said that all recommendations for hormone interventions must be endorsed by a national multi-disciplinary team (MDT). It is understood that the MDT has not yet received any recommendations for hormone treatment for 16 and 17-year-olds, since the Cass Review. GPHC was set up by Dr Aidan Kelly and is led by nurse consultant Paul Carruthers, who both worked at Gids, and has previously said it primarily treats patients aged between 16 and 25, using its own MDT. But Mr Cross said in written submissions that in the year up to June 2024, GPHC has 'accepted almost every single patient that it considered' for hormone treatment, and that the contrast with the NHS 'could not be more stark'. He said there were 'a number of key differences' between GPHC and the NHS safeguards, including that referrals to the former came from Dr Kelly's company, Kelly Psychology, which is unregulated. He said: 'It is, and ought to have been, obvious that the unregulated nature of the referrer enhanced the risk of patient safety.' He concluded: 'Either the CQC had to impose a condition which rationally ensured patient safety, or, if that were not possible, had to decide not to continue the registration.' Jamie Burton KC, for the CQC, said that there was 'ample evidence' that Kelly Psychology 'did not pose an unacceptable risk' to patients, and that a 'significant number' of those assessed by the company were not referred for treatment at GPHC. The court was told that the CQC found no evidence of 'improper decision making or anything that might flag a concern', and that the clinic was found to be 'committed to the safety and best interests of its patients'. He continued: 'CQC found GHPC to be acting in line with national guidance, including the NHS England 2024 Criteria. 'It found nothing to suggest that this was merely lip service or that GPHC management held an ideological commitment that was undermining its professional and regulatory commitments, or otherwise threatening the safety of patients.' He also said that the CQC 'had regard' to NHS processes, and that there could not be 'any legitimate doubt about the correctness of the ultimate outcome, or GPHC's continued registration'. He said: 'In its professional judgment, it found that the provider was taking reasonable steps to safeguard 16 and 17-year-olds by way of its existing processes.' Peter Mant KC, for Gender Plus Healthcare Limited, said that there was no legal requirement for a private provider to mirror NHS care and that the claimants' concerns 'do not have a high-quality evidence base'. He continued that the clinic's model was 'entirely consistent' with the Cass Review and NHS policy, and that patients 'no longer routinely have any input' from Kelly Psychology. He added that concerns related to the rate of accepting new patients were 'unjustified', and that the court should not 'go behind' the CQC's decision. The hearing before Mrs Justice Eady is expected to conclude on Wednesday, with a judgment expected in writing at a later date.
